My CFA journey is over

CFA Level III
#1

I remember the first time I register this program is 2007, I forgot how many times I just failed level 1, may be four or even five. Everytime I told myself it must be I didn’t put in enough study hours and that’s no execuse, so I still have motivation & desire to pass the exam. Finally I passed level 1 in June 2013 after several attempts. Then I sat for level 2 in 2014 and I knew it will be horrible for a guy who failed level 1 so many times, but I believed the worst is just fail one more time and that’s no big deal. I started in November and I gave up all the weekends & holidays, the result is amazing which I passed level 2 on first try with >70 in all subjects except AI. So I register level 3 in 2015 and do exactly the same as level 2 but the end result is band 9. This time I don’t feel sorry or bad, I already used up all my energy and time and I also realized that I may not suitable for this program. Will I pass level 3 on my 10 CFA anniversary? No idea, but I really exhausted and don’t have any motivation to do one more time. It’s time to say goodbye to the title I pursued in last eight years.

Essay

Q#** Topic Max Pts <=50% 51%-70% >70%** 1 Portfolio Management - Institutional 14 - - * 2 Portfolio Management - Institutional 17 - * - 3 Fixed Income Investments 19 * - - 4 Alternative Investments 20 * - - 5 Portfolio Management - Performance Eval. 15 - * - 6 Portfolio Management - Risk Management 14 - - * 7 Portfolio Management - Individual 18 - - * 8 Portfolio Management - Individual 16 - * - 9 Portfolio Management - Asset Allocation 15 * - - 10 Economics 14 - * - 11 Portfolio Management - Indiv/Behavioral 18 * - -

Item Set

Q#** Topic Max Pts <=50% 51%-70% >70%** - Economics 18 - - * - Equity Investments 18 * - - - Ethical & Professional Standards 36 * - - - Fixed Income Investments 18 - - * - Portfolio Management 18 * - - - Portfolio Management - Individual 18 - * - - Portfolio Management - Monitor&Rebalance 18 - - * - Portfolio Management - Risk Management 36 - * -

#2

Maybe you need to adjust your ways of learining L3, it’s quite different from L2 because it’s full of essay questions in AM. Not only the los itself but also how they are connected, the whole picture of each session.

Don’t give up, never stop trying.

I got luck in 2015, and got band 5 last time. You could do well.

#3

Maybe you need to adjust your ways of learining L3, it’s quite different from L2 because it’s full of essay questions in AM. Not only the los itself but also how they are connected, the whole picture of each session.

Don’t give up, never stop trying.

I got lucky in 2015, and got band 5 last time. You could do well.

#4

Just a question… If you knew the real number of hours to pour in way back in 2007 - would you join the Program?

#5

Dint give up ! You are so close to completing it…your performance is not too bad. You just need to improve on some areas especially in the AM. Try to rise higher everytime you fall and then u will succeed…it took 6 years for me to complete this brutal journey. give it another shot at in 2016.

#6

Btw you didnt give up L1 after so many attempts. Then why give up after only one try at L3 ?

#7

seems the real no. is more than 3,000 hours, it will be better for me to enjoy life with family instead of chasing this title

#8

Do you think cfai would disclose the real amount of time to br,e invested for potential candidates?

#9

it said average candidate need 300 hours, but obvious we underestimate this number

#10

If you think cfai must make a disclosure about the real amount of study hours please send an email to paul.smith@cfainstitute.org and support my petition i sent him yesterday. Tnx.

#11

In My case I have got a Band 8

My Journey so far

2010 - Level 1 (Cleared 1st Attempt)

2011 - Level 2 (Failed Band 5)

2012 - Level 2(Passed >70 in all but 2)

2013 - Level 3(Failed Band 2)

2014 - Did not attempt

2015 - Level 3(Failed Band 8)

My only concern is that I am not able to identify where i need to improve upon (that is why i am unsure whether i will attempt next year). My Essay section was bad and PM was not upto mark as well (According to results). Though i can’t derive much from the results (CFAI result matrix ensures that nothing much is disclosed to candidates)

I studied from CFA curriculum as is morstly suggested here. The only thing i could not do was to solve a timed mock (But i did solve the mock Qs as i reviewed each Topic area)

Also i did not attempt CFAI Mocks(which was a big blunder imo.). I am(was) a bit confused because Schweser Mock Guideline answers are so brief (one liners are needed for full marks), whereas CFAI mocks and guideline answers are so long, i don’t k now how to answer the essay section (brief or long).

One of my other problem is that in Essays i think too much (Even if the Qs are plain simple, i tend to believe that it is complicated and wander in unwanted directions). Also I could not complete Essay (left 21/180 points on table).

After all these years (from 2010), finally my motivation to finish is going down. Can someone suggest a viable approach, Two viable plans are

  1. Study from CFAI curriculum but solve Feb onwards (Do 1 review of cucrriculum and then solve 2010 to 2014 Mocks, leaving 2015 & 16 mocks after the second review (May)

  2. Study from 2015 videos(Schweser) and take down the notes + solve Mocks extensively (Do 1 review of notes and then solve 2010 to 2014 Mocks, leaving 2015 & 16 mocks after the second review (May)

You can see from my past scores that either i have passed or have fared miserably. When i got Band 2 in Level2, i did not study at all (got married 2 months before the exam). But this result is devastating because i put in some efforts and i am not sure whether i have it in me to give it a try one more time.

#12

Follow a study plan - https://konvexity.wordpress.com/2015/02/11/4-months-study-plan-for-cfa-level-iii/

#13

Thanks Viki, what about the essay part, how you approached it? m still clueless

#14

I did all the previous 2007-2014 essay exams in real life scenario .

Apart from that i did 3 konvexity essay mocks.

Make note of keywords/language used by CFAI in their answers

#15

Thanks!! i will try this

#16

Viki how are their Sectional tests? (exam like?) and mocks? looks cheap though

#17

best in the business. The owner is CFA/FRM/CAT 100 PERCENTILE

#18

Thanks Bro!!, i will try to follow the plan suggested by you

#19

Hi Rluk,

In my opinion you shoud not give up just for 2 reasons. The fisrt one is that you did extremelly well on the AM session making 53.28 % of the tolal allowed score points. The second reason is that according to my opinion your weeknesses is related to the PM session which can be easilly overcome. In two words, you have finished more difficult part of the exam and the easier part is just in front of you!

Good Luck with the exam next year. I am sure that you’re going to make it!

#20

i understand why you would want to give up… , 2007 was a long time ago… However I think you are so close to the end. Despite not passing, you did well. Just work out exactly what you need to do to pass… and give it one final push… i know its easier said than done… but you can do it… Don’t give up… Finishing is a wonderful feeling and all the sacrifices will be worth it…